Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Health & Society
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Health & Society

State Sen. David Valesky visits InclusiveU at Syracuse University

Monday, December 5, 2016, By News Staff
Share
School of Education

The School of Education’s Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education welcomed State Sen. David Valesky to campus recently, where he attended an InclusiveU/Peer-2-Peer Pizza Party in Schine Student Center. Valesky secured support in the 2016 New York State Budget for the program, which provides an opportunity for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to attend the University. The funding is helping to supply academic and mentoring support to students enrolled in the program.

InclusiveU student Matt Sardino (left), School of Education Dean Joanna Masingila (second to left), and Taishoff Center Executive Director Beth Myers (second to right) greet Senator Valesky (right), at Peer-2-Peer pizza party hosted on campus at the end of November.

InclusiveU student Matt Sardino, left, School of Education Dean Joanna Masingila and Taishoff Center Executive Director Beth Myers greet State Sen. David Valesky at a  Peer-2-Peer pizza party hosted recently on campus.

Valesky used the occasion to meet InclusiveU students on campus. Over 30 SU and InclusiveU students attended the event, and Valesky took time to chat with them as he posed for numerous selfies and ate pizza. When asked for his reaction to meeting the students and staff who make InclusiveU possible, Valesky said that “Getting to connect with students, to see what amazing supportive community exists on the Syracuse University campus, was priceless. I truly feel that inclusive college campuses will be key in building more experienced, diverse and thriving communities.”

School of Education Dean Joanna Masingila helped welcome the senator to campus, thanking him and the Taishoff Center for helping InclusiveU thrive. Masingila agrees that “Students with disabilities on campus are a true representation of the outside world, and we understand that providing opportunity for them to access higher education is a fundamental right.”

Others in attendance included representatives from partner organizations, including the Kelberman Center, Onondaga Community Living and the Syracuse City School District. Two parents of current students, Matthew Dydo, owner of Matthew’s Salon, and Joe Canestrare, an employee of Syracuse University, also stopped by to personally tell the senator how much the program has meant for their families.

The event was hosted by Peer-2-Peer, the social initiative of InclusiveU that matches matriculated SU students up with non-matriculated InclusiveU students to learn from and support each other as they experience college life. Pizza parties are common for the group, and this event was another way for everyone to get together and celebrate the diverse SU community.

When asked about the event, Tori Cedar, student and InclusiveU Peer Trainer, said: “It was really incredible that he got to see first hand what we do here, and for our students to experience someone important in the community wanting to see what we do. It hits home that we are really doing something big, more than ever.”

InclusiveU student and School of Education/Center For Human Policy employee Jonathan Rushmore added, “It was great meeting Senator Valesky, he is very nice, and it is great that he secured funds for InclusiveU to help us grow and improve.”

  • Author
  • Faculty Experts

News Staff

  • Joanna Masingila

  • Recent
  • Arts and Sciences Hosts Inaugural Scholarship and Research Gala
    Friday, May 9, 2025, By Sean Grogan
  • Chancellor Kent Syverud Honored as Distinguished Citizen of the Year at 57th Annual ScoutPower Event
    Thursday, May 8, 2025, By News Staff
  • New Maymester Program Allows Student-Athletes to Develop ‘Democracy Playbook’
    Thursday, May 8, 2025, By Wendy S. Loughlin
  • From Policy to Practice: How AI is Shaping the Future of Education
    Thursday, May 8, 2025, By Christopher Munoz
  • Kohn, Wiklund, Wilmoth Named Distinguished Professors
    Thursday, May 8, 2025, By Wendy S. Loughlin

More In Health & Society

Major League Soccer’s Meteoric Rise: From Underdog to Global Contender

With the 30th anniversary of Major League Soccer (MLS) fast approaching, it’s obvious MLS has come a long way from its modest beginning in 1996. Once considered an underdog in the American sports landscape, the league has grown into a…

Rebekah Lewis Named Director of Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health

The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs is pleased to announce that Rebekah Lewis is the new director of the Maxwell-based Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health. She joined the Maxwell School as a faculty fellow…

Maxwell Hall Foyer Home to Traveling Exhibition ‘Picturing the Pandemic’ Until May 15

Five years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic upended daily lives across the globe, changing how we learned, how we shopped and how we interacted with each other. Over the following two years, the virus caused the deaths of several million people,…

Maxwell Alumnus Joins California Wildfire Relief Efforts

In mid-January, days after the devastating Eaton Fire began in Los Angeles County, California, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs alumnus Zayn Aga ’21 joined colleagues from the office of U.S. Rep. Judy Chu at a nearby donation drive…

Haowei Wang Named 2025-26 Fellow by Association of Population Centers

Haowei Wang, assistant professor of sociology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, has been named a 2025-26 Association of Population Centers (APC) Fellow. Every year, the APC selects 12 population research centers to nominate an early-career center…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.